Petals
by Luddles
Summary: Husky finds Cooro out attempting to steal some apples again... but what happens when Cooro mysteriously disappears, along with Senri? Husky and Nana are left to find out when they come across a strange boy saying he'll help them. SenrixRose, HuskyxNana
1. Chapter 1: Disappear

**Petals**

**Asuka: I'm going crazy. I tell you, I'm going CRAZY**

**Husky: Personally, I think you went crazy a while ago.**

**Asuka: Yes, but not quite THIS crazy.**

**Cooro: How crazy?**

**Asuka: Crazy enough to write a SenrixRose story. Now for me, that's crazy.**

**Link: Now that is crazy. I thought YOU were the one in love with Senri, Asuka.**

**Asuka: Wah! Shut up, Link! ****You're not even a +Anima character, so get out of here!**

**Senri: …**

**Asuka: I tell you, he's lying! I mean, come on!**

**(Everyone stares at Asuka disbelievingly)**

**Asuka: Ehehe… Now, I'm not changing the subject… well, I am. This story takes place right after the end of the +Anima series… which came way too soon.**

**Chapter One**

**Disappear**

Cooro stared hungrily at the apple tree. He wasn't supposed to be eating those apples, but… They just looked so good! He smiled, and reached out to touch the fruit. Miss Margaret had said that they weren't ripe yet, but what did Cooro care? Apples were apples, and apples were the yummiest thing in the world in his opinion. The twelve-year-old boy chuckled and brushed a strand of his black hair out of his eyes where it was obscuring his view of the round green fruits. He reached out to pick one, but just when he touched it…

WHACK! A long staff connected with the back of Cooro's head. He turned to face the attacker, rubbing the throbbing knot on the backside of his cranium. "That hurt!" he whined. "HUUUSKYYY! Why'd you hit me?"

The tall, thin boy in front of him rolled his eyes. He was holding the weapon in his gloved hand, and looking very annoyed with his friend. "Cooro," said Husky. "You aren't supposed to eat those yet, they're still sour." Cooro groaned, and slouched over, looking quite miserable.

"Gosh, how long do they expect me to wait?" he said.

"You can't eat them until fall," Husky reprimanded, surprising himself at how much he was beginning to sound like Nana, scolding someone like that. Husky walked away with one hand around his reluctant companion's wrist, who gave the unripe apples a last forlorn look.

Cooro was rather partial to apples, or food of any sort. He was a bit of a nuisance, but his happy personality and huge smile made up for his habit of annoying everyone in the vicinity. Husky let go of Cooro's arm as soon as the apple tree was no longer in sight, and Cooro could no longer go back and find it without Husky bopping him on the head again first. Husky continued walking, and soon noticed the absence of Cooro's continual humming, singing, and general noisemaking.

"Cooro?" he asked the air. Cooro was not there. _He's probably gotten distracted again, _thought Husky. Perhaps Cooro was off chasing yet another butterfly. Maybe he'd noticed a puddle that he just had to jump in. Or maybe something bad really had happened to him. "No," Husky told himself. "Cooro's fine. He's just lost… It shouldn't be hard to find him."

"Husky, why are you talking to yourself?" asked someone from behind him. He turned around to see Nana standing behind him. She took about five steps to reach him. "Did you get too much sun?" she asked, and put a hand on his forehead. He jumped back at her touch, his face turning red.

"N-no, Nana, stop touching me!" he said, and she put her hands on her hips.

"Then why were you talking to yourself?" she demanded.

"That's not important," he replied. "Have you seen Cooro?"

"No," she said. He sighed. Just as he had thought. Cooro was lost. AGAIN. Nana noticed the annoyed expression on his face.

"Why, did he do something?" she asked, looking around as if she would suddenly spot the little black-winged +Anima boy.

"I think he's gotten lost," said Husky. He paused for a moment, and then noticed something odd. "Nana, why are you out here alone?"

"Well, I wasn't alone… not at first," she admitted. Nana was staring at the ground, shaking a little. Her eyes were darting around nervously, as though she was looking for something.

In truth, Nana had been walking around with Senri, trying to find Husky and Cooro. She'd noticed Husky in the distance and gotten a bit ahead of him, and when she turned around… Senri was gone.

"Where's Senri?" asked Husky, as though his sky-blue eyes had seen straight through her skull and into her mind. Nana flinched. Husky always knew what she was thinking. Was he really that smart, or was it just visible all over her face?

"I was with him, and then…"

"He disappeared," said Husky, once more knowing exactly what she'd meant to say.

"How did you know?" she asked. He started looking around them, holding his staff more tightly.

"Cooro's gone too," he replied. "But… the both of them tend to be… well, they both get lost easily, so… they might… well…" He could think of no more excuses. Where Senri and Cooro were, he knew not, but either way, he would be the one finding the both of them once more.

"We'd better find Senri before…" Nana trailed off.

"Before he finds someone he doesn't like," Husky finished her sentence for her. She nodded. Husky gripped his staff tightly and started walking in the direction of an empty field, the only place which Cooro and Senri could have gone off to. Nana followed close behind.

"Husky," she said suddenly, and he jumped.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't you think we should get Mister Harden and Miss Margaret to help us?" she suggested. "It's getting late out, and I don't want to be here in the… dark." Husky knew that Nana was afraid of the dark, but if Cooro and Senri were just lost, it wouldn't take much to find them.

"We won't be long," he reassured her. "I don't want to trouble them." Nana nodded, and walked on determinedly. Husky had said just the thing to get her to come with him. She never wanted to inconvenience anyone. They continued walking, Nana's green eyes shining in the quickly falling darkness. It was the ironic part of her bat +Anima, she absolutely hated the night.

Suddenly, Husky stopped, and Nana bumped into him. "What're you doing!?" she shouted. He put a hand over her mouth.

"Shush! There's someone behind us," he whispered, looking at a shadow in the darkness. The person was tall, and silhouetted against the night sky. Husky had no clue who it was, because it was too dark to see their face. Nana sighed in relief. She moved Husky's hand off of her lips. He hadn't realized it was still there.

"Senri, there you are," said Nana. The person standing in front of them took a step forward, and Husky was now sure that it was their missing friend. Then, with a sudden strike of realization, Husky knew that the person standing in front of them was not Senri. He was sure of this, due to the fact that the man stepped forward and slapped Nana across the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Nana!" Husky shouted, and ran at the man with his staff. The instant he came close enough, he noticed that this man was wearing a cloth tied over the lower half of his face, and the scar that went over his forehead. Definitely not Senri. Husky nearly hit him with the staff, but the other man grabbed the weapon and rammed it into Husky's chest. He stumbled backward as he was surrounded by the folds of unconsciousness.

Cooro awoke to the inside of a carriage. There was a warm thing next to him. As his foggy brain returned to working order, he realized that it was Senri. Some sticky liquid was all over his arm. Blood! Cooro yelped, and slapped a hand over his mouth to silence himself. It was Senri who was hurt, a long scratch on his cheek.

For once in his life, Cooro was silent. He knew that whoever had put them here was very powerful, to knock out Senri like that. Something stirred next to him, and he jumped backward.

Cooro sighed. It was only Husky. The silver-haired boy shook his head and looked at Cooro. "There you are," he said, his voice hoarse and shaking. "Where's Nana?"

"Why are you so worried about Nana?" asked Cooro. He was very suspicious of his friend. He was acting fishy. Oh, wait. Husky was always fishy. Due to the fact that he was a fish +Anima.

"Duh. She's a girl. And she's practically helpless," said Husky.

"Helpless!" Someone shouted from another dark area of the moving carriage. Husky put his hand over Nana's mouth for the second time that day.

"Shut up," he hissed.

"Good advice," said a boy's voice that they'd never heard. All three +Anima children gasped as they noticed an unfamiliar cloaked figure sitting in the corner. "You three should all shut up and hope that this thing stops moving soon."

"Why?" asked Cooro.

"Soon as it does, I'm getting you us out of here."

**Asuka: First chapter… DONE! Squee!**

**Husky: Whatever happened to SenrixRose? **

**Asuka: No really, it is SenrixRose, I promise.**

**Husky: Rose is not mentioned.**

**Asuka: Not YET she's not! HAH!**

**Senri: …Changed.**

**Asuka: I did not change my mind! **


	2. Chapter 2: Rescue

**Husky: How come I got hit by my own staff AGAIN!? Why does that always happen in your stories?**

**Asuka: 'Cause I think it's funny. Hey, Mermaid Princess, I might have you dress up as a girl in this one.**

**Shadowlight: No! Don't do that!**

**Asuka: Kidding. I'm just kidding.**

**Husky: You'd better be.**

**Asuka: Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.**

**Shadowlight: ****Growl.**

**Asuka: Okay, I am. **

**Chapter Two**

**Rescue**

The carriage jolted to a stop, waking Senri, who winced and put his hand to the cut on his face. Cooro touched his arm, bringing him to realize that his other companions were standing along with him.

"Come on, the lot of you," said the boy who'd promised to rescue them. He seemed young for trying to be so heroic, so Husky thought as they leapt out of the wagon. The masked man who'd taken them dashed out to his carriage, only to find that it was empty.

"That was close," said Cooro, before the boy who'd saved them placed his hand over Cooro's mouth. They were hiding up against a cliff that was conveniently nearby. Husky sighed, his heart thumping, and the other boy grinned.

"Come on," he ordered, and they followed him up the side of the cliff to a small cave. Nana tripped and collapsed on the floor the instant they entered, and Husky picked her up. "I'm Haya," said the cloaked boy.

"Who was that?" asked Husky.

"That was a group of bandits after certain +Anima," said Haya, and he nodded at Senri. The rest of them looked at their friend, who was busy attempting to lick the wound on his cheek. Haya rolled his eyes, and pulled a strip of cloth from inside his cloak and pressed it against Senri's face. Senri took it from him and nodded.

"Why do they want Senri?" Nana asked concernedly. Haya shrugged. The sudden motion jolted a strand of his gray hair in front of his face, and the other +Anima instantly noticed a string of blue beads tied in his hair.

"They thought I was Senri," said Haya.

"I can see why," said Cooro. "You look just like him! You could be his brother!" Haya chuckled.

"I assure you, I am not," he said. "For one, Senri is my friend from when I was younger. And I could be no one's brother."

"That's an odd thing to say," Nana commented. Haya laughed, and twirled the strand of beaded hair around his finger. He was a suspicious kid, for sure. He was short, but it was impossible for anyone to tell how thin he was, due to his huge cloak. The garment also covered most of his face, with the exception of gray eyes. The same color as Senri's.

"If I was related to Senri," Haya said slowly. His eyes twinkled, and he looked as though he was smiling. "… Never mind." he said. "Where do you four live?" he asked.

"With Harden and Margaret!" Cooro chirped.

"He's not going to know where they live," said Husky. Haya smiled again. Husky was getting tired of this man's mysterious mood. It was about time for some questions. Cooro, however, beat him to it.

"What kind of +Anima are you?" he asked excitedly.

"Mountain lion," said Haya simply.

"Cool," said Cooro. "How did you get to be a +Anima?"

"Cooro, that's a personal question!" Nana scolded. She knew that she would never want anyone to know about how she became a bat +Anima. It was traumatic enough that her father abused her and her mother, but the fact that he was chasing her around in the darkness, ready to hurt her… That was enough to make anyone turn into a +Anima. But it wasn't like Nana would tell anyone. She didn't want sympathy from anybody. And she didn't really want anyone knowing that she was a +Anima. She twisted the folds of her dress through her fingers, her tight grip worried. Worried that Haya might answer.

She didn't want a nice boy like him to be pressured into telling them secrets just because of Cooro's huge shining puppy dog eyes. "You don't have to say… if you don't want," she told Haya.

"Aww, come on, Nana, I want to know!" Cooro chirped.

"No, Cooro, if someone doesn't want to tell you something like that, they don't have to," Nana said firmly. Cooro looked at the ground sourly. It was only a few seconds before he recovered from his sudden bout of sadness.

"Hey, how old are you?" he asked Haya.

"Twelve," said Haya. "But this gray hair does do something to make people look older."

"Are you a Kim-Un-Kur?" Cooro asked. Haya nodded.

"I'm from the Tooa tribe… except that there's no more Tooa tribe," he said. "Senri's from the same tribe. He was always the sweetest kid. I don't remember him very well. I was only five years old when the tribe was taken over by Sailanders. I didn't know that anyone else was still alive. It was then that I became a +Anima, if you wanted to know," he explained. Cooro smiled, the cheeky grin that he always wore still pasted on his face.

Husky was still trying to comprehend why Haya had said that he couldn't be anyone's brother. Nana had been right, it was a rather odd thing to say. Was Haya an orphan or something? He didn't want to ask, for fear of prying once more. Cooro was quick to ask this question also.

"Haya, where are your parents?" he asked.

"Don't know," he replied. "I haven't seen them since our tribe was taken over. Now I'm just a loner, I suppose."

The young man looked out the entrance of the cave at the noonday sky. Cooro suddenly realized that it was lunchtime, and his stomach growled loudly. He blushed, and giggled. Haya stood, and left the little hole in the cliff, looking around. "I wonder if there's anything to eat around here," he said to himself.

Senri stood and pointed to a plant in the ground. Haya looked at it suspiciously. "I don't know. It might not be edible…" he said. The others, however, trusted Senri's judgment of edible things. They found the little plants to be rather good for eating, especially Cooro.

Eventually, he sighed, satisfied, and leaned back against the sun-warmed cliff, his ebony wings spread wide. The warm summer sun spread over him like a blanket, and he smiled. He loved this feeling. It was times like these, the middle of summer, which made him so happy. It was truly lovely out. Now, if only they knew where they were.

"Anybody know where home is from here?" asked Husky.

"There's a house right over there," said Nana, pointing. Husky looked over the side of the cliff at the ramshackle dwelling, obviously not the best of surroundings. It would be nice to find someone who knew where they were, though.

"Haya, what do you think about asking over there?" he asked. Haya nodded.

"Sure. Not unless your little feathered friend has any more queries for me," he said.

"Oh!" Cooro said, perking up. "I was wondering something actually. You said earlier that you couldn't possibly be anyone's brother. How come?"

"That's easy," he chuckled. "You see, you've assumed something about me that's not true…"

**Asuka: And it ends there.**

**Cooro: Darn it, I want to know more!**

**Asuka: That, Cooro, is called suspense.**

**Senri: Rose…**

**Asuka: I know, I promise, Rose will be here in the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3: Flowers

**Asuka: Cheese.**

**Cooro: Cheese? Where!?**

**Nana: There's no cheese, Cooro.**

**Asuka: Right. I was just saying it for no good reason.**

**Cooro: Who says the word 'cheese' for no good reason?**

**Asuka: Uh, me? Hey, Max and I were wondering. What would happen if Cooro could duplicate himself? **

**Nana: Husky's worst nightmare.**

**Chapter Three**

**Flowers**

"Assumed? Us? What?" asked Cooro. Haya sighed. Then he laughed, and removed his cloak.

"I'm a girl," said Haya.

"SERIOUSLY!?" Husky nearly shouted.

"Sure. You're a girl, too. Why's that weird?" she asked. Nana laughed hysterically, and Cooro joined in (as soon as he got it). Senri continued staring off into space, obviously not finding Haya's mistake as hilarious as the rest.

"He's… not… a GIRL!" Nana giggled, and Husky groaned. Haya blushed.

"Oops," she said. Cooro continued laughing.

"How's that, Mister Mermaid Princess!?" he said. Husky whapped him on the head with his staff.

"Don't call me that!" he shouted at his feathered friend, who only grinned, being used to the continuous blows to his head whenever Husky was around.

Now that Haya was no longer wearing her cloak, it was more obvious that she was a girl. She was thin for her height, with long arms and legs. Her face, which had also been covered, was much different than Senri's, though provided she was masked, she did resemble him. Her eyes were large and gray, and sparkled like nothing they'd ever seen before. Her hair was pulled back at about shoulder length. But although they were all staring at her, she was more interested in something else.

She was looking at the tiny house in the distance. There was someone standing outside of it, a redheaded woman who was not paying much attention to the fact that there were people on the cliff. Cooro peeked over the edge of the cliff to suddenly realize that he'd seen that girl before.

Senri was the first to recognize exactly who she was (which was not a normal Senri thing to do). He jumped over the edge of the cliff and landed on the ground, nearly falling on his head in all his hurry. Husky stared at him like he was crazy. Senri, actually recognizing someone? How had that happened? Normally, it was the others who knew someone, or had just met someone, whom Senri had seen before, and he didn't acknowledge them at any level. But now, he was running to this person, and finally the others recognized her.

"ROSE!" Nana shouted, and followed Senri. Cooro was skipping gleefully in their direction, a very Cooro-ish thing to do. Husky followed slowly, as Rose had annoyed him very much when he had previously met her. Rose turned around at the sound of Nana's voice, but just as she did, Senri collided into her and hugged her.

"Um, okay, Senri…" said Rose. "I know I haven't seen you in a whole year, but… that's a little weird."

All of the others seemed to think it was strange also, but Haya still couldn't quite figure out why. Wouldn't it be completely normal for someone to hug a person whom they hadn't seen in a year? But apparently it wasn't a normal thing for Senri. Maybe he didn't normally do anything like that. It would be bad to assume, so Haya stopped making assumptions. Senri seemed happy, at the very least.

"Hey, Senri?" Cooro asked, tapping his friend on the shoulder. "You going to let go of her sometime soon?" Senri seemed to notice that he hadn't, and immediately released Rose, who was laughing.

"Wow, that was unexpected," she said, and the rest of the +Anima agreed. Unexpected things should generally be expected around Senri, though, as he was always doing something weird. Nana thought back to the first time they'd met Rose. Senri had been acting weird then, too. It wasn't really normal for him to… well… lick people. Maybe Senri liked her! Nana grinned. These kinds of things amused her greatly. Like the time Cyranova had been staring at that girl for AGES on end. And that weird Kevin guy who'd fallen in love with a mermaid! The latter would have been very romantic except for the fact that the mermaid was actually Husky. Nana snickered just remembering it, and Husky gave her a strange look.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said. Well, truth be told, she was glad that Husky hadn't really ended up liking anyone, for some reason which she didn't even want to admit inside her head. Anyhow, she had to figure out whether or not Senri liked Rose! But, knowing Senri, that would be a little difficult. He wouldn't get the difference between just liking someone as a friend, and actually… Yeah, that would be hard to explain to him. So maybe she should just go and ask Rose!

Nana was later sneaking around (though she wouldn't call it sneaking, it was more like _looking_ around) to find Rose. She wasn't in the house, though that was likely where she should have been. And she wasn't anywhere else that Nana could see. So maybe she was in some secret hiding place that only Rose knew of where she would daydream of Senri! Or… something like that. Then again, was there really that much to daydream about Senri? Nana didn't think so. **(Asuka: But I disagree!)**

Then she began to wonder exactly why the author of this fanfiction had added a random sidenote. Until of course, she noticed Rose sitting in the middle of the field right in front of her face, talking to… Husky. Now, that was uninteresting. Except, why would Rose talk to Husky? Nana snuck up behind the two of them to listen in on their conversation. But it wasn't really eavesdropping! In Nana's mind, it wasn't, at least.

"So, how would I even ask Senri something like that?" Rose asked Husky. He rolled his eyes.

"Rose, you know I hate girls! I've never even been in that situation before!" he replied. Nana still had no idea what they were talking about. Rose sighed.

"Well, thanks for listening to me," she said. "I know you would never tell anyone." He nodded.

"Good thing you didn't say anything to Cooro," he said. "Or Nana, she's kind of an annoying busybody."

Nana felt like walking up and declaring that she was not an annoying busybody, until she remembered that Husky may have seen her that way because at one point in time she was convinced that he was a girl. And instead of asking him about it, she went about trying to find out by her own means. So, Husky was a little mad about that still. But what had Rose been talking about, asking Senri something? Did that mean she really DID like him!? Well, there could have been a chance that Rose was planning on asking Senri some other question, but Nana did not have time to think about that! Her schemes could not wait much longer to be put into action!

But she had to think of a scheme first. "Okay," said Nana to herself, planning out the conversation in her head. "Okay, so I go up to Rose, and say… something… something about Senri! Yeah! And then she'll probably say something else about him and eventually will…"

"Nana, what are you doing?" asked Husky. Nana jolted and then looked at him. No wonder he'd found her, she was standing there plotting random plots in the middle of the place! Now why hadn't she thought of that earlier?

"N-nothing, I just… just…" she was a bad liar, especially when it came to Husky. He shook his head and laughed at her.

"Whatever. C'mon, it's getting dark," he said, and she followed him back to the cave where they were continuing to sleep, because the house Rose was staying in was far too small for all of them. When they reached the cave, they noticed Rose and Senri sitting at the entrance. Cooro was chasing Haya around the cliffside, who was easily evading him due to her speed. Nana smiled at the sight of all her friends, and Husky smiled because she was.

Haya dashed forward with a sudden burst of speed, only to realize that there was no longer ground beneath her paws. She flailed in midair for a moment, before plummeting to the rocks below.

"Haya? Haya!" Cooro called, and when he saw her body lying at the bottom of the cliff, his heart nearly stopped.

**Cooro: Oh no! Is she gonna die!?**

**Asuka: Yeah, like I'd actually tell you that.**

**Cooro: PLEEEASE!? (****Gives Asuka big shiny puppy dog eyes… OF DOOM!)**

**Asuka: No. I must not be overpowered by the shininess!**

**Husky: Geez, Asuka, you like shininess more than me!**

**Asuka: Duh. I'm like, the most shiny-obsessed person ever. Besides Yuki the vampire (long story there).**

**Senri: …Shiny.**


	4. Chapter 4: Fallen Lion, Lonely Angel

**Asuka: (reading the 6****th**** +Anima) SQUEE! (Dies)**

**Husky: You didn't really die, right?**

**Asuka: Nah. It's just the kind of thing fangirls say.**

**Husky: You say that you… die?**

**Asuka: Yes, death of cuteness!**

**Husky: One: you can't die of cuteness. Two: you've got a weird sense of what's cute.**

**Asuka: Why?**

**Husky: You think Senri's cute.**

**Asuka: Well, duh. Does the word BISHOUNEN mean anything to you?**

**Husky: No. No it doesn't.**

**Chapter Four**

**Fallen Lion, Lonely Angel**

"HAYA!" Cooro shouted as loud as he possibly could, in hopes that his newfound friend would answer. When she didn't move, tears came to his eyes and he floated down to land next to his fallen friend. "Haya," he said, and a crystalline tear fell from his eye to land on her arm. "Don't die. You can't!"

"I don't think she can hear you," Husky said from the rim of the ravine.

"Yes she can!" Cooro protested. "She has to be able too! She's not dead, I know it!"

"I wasn't saying she's dead," Husky sighed. "She's unconscious." Nana, Senri, and Rose each appeared next to Husky, looking at the little winged boy. A breeze wound its way through the small valley that Cooro was sitting it, ruffling his hair and gently blowing his limp wings. His hands curled into fists as he willed himself to stop crying and be strong to take care of her. But he hadn't the faintest idea what to do. Haya would know, if only she was awake.

"Should I bring her up here?" he asked.

"Yes, dummy!" Husky snapped. "What do you think we'd do, leave her there!?"

"Well sometimes when someone hurts their head, you're not supposed to move them," Nana said, rationalizing Cooro's question. Rose nodded.

"I've heard that before," she added. A light drop of rain fell from the sky and landed on Cooro's nose.

"It's raining," he said.

"No it's not," Husky protested. He pulled off one of his gloves and held out his hand, but he still could not feel any raindrops.

"Is too, I felt it!" Cooro said. Then, a crash of thunder split the valley, with a downpour following. Nana yelped, and started panicking. Husky grabbed her arm, and she stopped.

"We've got to get out of this rain," she said. "Cooro, do you need me to help you carry Haya?"

Cooro thought about it for a moment, as the rain began to trickle down his forehead and soak through his clothes. He shook his head. "No, I can do it," he said. He put his arms around the limp, sleeping girl and spread his wings with renewed vigor as he flew up, through the torrents of rain to land on the cliff. She wasn't very heavy, but Cooro was still young and not very strong. It took all of his strength to get up there, and he nearly collapsed.

Senri grabbed Cooro's shoulders to steady him and reached out to take Haya from the black-winged +Anima. Cooro shook his head. "I've got her," he said. Senri sighed, hoping Cooro was right. He didn't want his friend to hurt himself. Cooro stood, and kept walking until he saw the faint shadow of the cave, and the silhouetted figure of Rose standing at the mouth of the cavern. She ushered them inside concernedly, and Cooro finally let Senri take Haya. He collapsed onto the floor next to Nana, his ragged breathing the only sound aside from the crackling of a fire Rose had started in a dry patch under a place where the top edge of the cave stuck out.

Exhausted from the flight, Cooro fell asleep. He didn't necessarily want to sleep at the moment, but he was so very tired. His eyelids felt heavy, and his head was swimming with effort to keep them open. He curled and uncurled his fists in hope that the motion would keep him awake. But he was tired, and the warmth from the fire wasn't helping him stay up.

"Cooro, just go to sleep already," Husky snapped, and tossed his cloak over his friend's body. Cooro laughed quietly, and then the cave echoed with tremendous waves of crashing, thunderous silence.

Cooro awoke to the continuous drizzle of the rain falling outside. His ears were filled with the little tapping noise. It was starting to get annoying. He peered over the edge of Husky's cloak to see if his friends remained in the cavern, but it was too dark to see. It must have been night by that point. The fire was extinguished, and all the others were breathing slowly in the darkness lit only by the small remaining embers. Thunder crashed outside, and a rock fell off the rim of the cave into a puddle of water. The liquid splashed onto the thin light from the embers, and pitch-black darkness surrounded Cooro. He sighed, and wiped a drop of the splashed water off his nose. He was dry, but strands of his hair were stuck together with the mud that he must have fallen into at one point. He wasn't exactly sure when he'd done such, but it didn't matter.

He reached out into the darkness, hoping not to touch anything weird. His hand brushed against a string of blue beads in Haya's hair, which clattered on the ground. The noise sounded loud in the silence, and Cooro froze momentarily, hoping that he hadn't woken anyone. A small yawn told him that he had. He sighed. Cooro really hadn't meant to wake anybody, he was just a little clumsy. Now he would have to explain why he'd made so much noise.

"Why's it so dark?" asked Haya's strong voice. Cooro smiled, and then laughed.

"Haya!" he squealed, his heart soaring. "You're okay!" He reached out to where he assumed the other girl was and hugged her. She was surprised at the sudden gesture, having forgotten that she'd fallen off the cliff and been injured. She hugged Cooro in return regardless.

"Who's making all the noise?" Husky muttered sleepily from somewhere else in the cave. "Shut up."

"Husky, Haya's okay!" Cooro said, very loudly. He no longer cared who he woke up, so long as she was alright. "Isn't that great?"

"Yep. Great," Husky groaned, and then he didn't speak any more. Cooro tilted his head to the side and looked in the direction he thought his friend was with an inquisitive expression. Husky must have really not wanted to be woken up. Cooro sat with his back against the cave wall. After about five seconds, he felt bored, and sighed.

"Why aren't they awake?" he asked nobody in particular.

"Maybe it's because it's the middle of the night," said Haya, and Cooro nodded.

"Should we go to sleep then?" he asked. She paused, thinking.

"I suppose," she said. "I don't feel like sleeping though." A rustling sound came from the corner of the cave, and suddenly a hard object bonked Cooro on the head.

"I said shut up!" Husky hissed angrily. How loud could Cooro be in the middle of the night? Husky rolled over and tucked his staff behind him, hoping that he wouldn't have to hit Cooro on the head anymore.

Cooro still sat there, watching the time tick by. He toyed with a fray in his burgundy gloves, and leaned his head against the back of the cave wall. Every so often, he glanced out the window, always waiting in hopes that he would see the light of the sunrise. Haya sat with him, but eventually fell asleep again. He was alone, and not tired at all. In fact, he was perfectly awake.

Cooro's stomach growled, and he sighed heavily. When would everyone wake up and get him some breakfast? He rocked back and forth in a contained effort to be silent, but it was not working out very well. Cooro was once again imbued with the want to shout something into the depths of the cave. Now that Haya was okay, he was back in his usual happy mood.

Because Cooro had been unconscious before, he wasn't very rested. His head began to droop onto his chest, and his eyelids felt so heavy. His eyes closed and he fell fast asleep. Then, in the silence of the cavern, one of the +Anima was stolen away by a mysterious thief with a black cloak around him. Which of them it was will not be told. But whoever was stolen was completely silent.

**Asuka: Haha, more suspense! **

**Cooro: Jeez, Asuka, why do you keep doing that? It's getting on my nerves!**

**Asuka: Yup. Definitely suspenseful enough. *grins***

**Husky: How come you keep tormenting him?**

**Asuka: Dunno. It's surprisingly entertaining.**

**Husky: Yeah, y'know, it really is.**

**Cooro: Aww, stop it you guys! It's not funny!**


	5. Chapter 5: Wilted

_**Asuka: Well, I tell you again: I don't own +Anima**_

**Husky: Asuka, what did you do now?**

**Asuka: I don't know!!!! I really don't know why my Zelda story appeared here!**

**Husky: Geez, you scatter-brained weirdo.**

**Asuka: SORRY! I really have no clue what happened! I panicked when I realized that something happened!**

**Husky: Was it your computer's fault again?**

**Asuka: I DON'T KNOW, HUSKY!!! *frustration***

**Chapter Five**

**Wilted**

A figure wearing a leering smile stood over the body of a motionless girl, rubbing his gloved hands together in happiness that he had succeeded. He sat next to the pale figure in the grime that covered the floor of a cobweb-encrusted tiny shack, his near-white eyes raving over her like a madman. And perhaps he was mad, his mind deliriously insane, and those ever so light grey eyes far more crazed than they appeared in the dim light coming from the single sputtering candle.

As a blush of pink sun began to creep over the horizon, her face was illuminated. Perfect in every way, with smooth skin and flowing reddish hair, she was beautiful. But she was fallen, wilted, like a dead flower, because she was in such a situation. A spot of blood, so like red tears, flowed from her forehead. She had been hit with something, and it was due to that she was unconscious.

The man next to her combed his fingers through his dirty hair, which was pitch black, and looked at her again. Her eyes began to open, and upon meeting his ghostly pale face, she let out a scream that tore across the sunrise and burrowed itself deep inside the dreams of another man, quite unlike the first.

He sat bolt upright, wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. He had been crying in his sleep, because of some awful dream. Rose had been gone, and she was screaming about something. The details of the dream fluttered from Senri's mind as quickly as they had come, such as most thoughts and ideas that passed across it. He looked at the corner of the cavern, near the entrance, where Rose was sleeping, curled into a ball. But she was not present.

Senri made his way across the cavern floor, looking around the entire area for his friend, not sure at all where she had gone. He stood and walked outside, looking for her once more as the sun began to rise. She was not anywhere on the cliffside, or in the house. Panic swept Senri's mind like a cold rush that wouldn't go away. He closed his solitary gray eye, his brow knitting together in frustration and anger. He didn't know how Rose had disappeared all of sudden, but he desperately wanted to.

"Rose," he whispered, and his fingers subconsciously reached for the leather-bound book that he constantly carried at his side. He rifled through the pages until he reached a bright red rose that was pressed there along with so many other flowers. The flower brought back so many memories of Rose's bright smile, her sparkling eyes, and the incomparable laugh that no one else could ever have. Along with that came the memories of her touch, the feel of her skin, and the scent of the flower from which she was named that always hung around her. And Senri wondered what was this feeling that he had never felt before. No flower he had looked at in his life, no one's eyes that he could remember, had ever brought this warm feeling to rest deep inside him.

Was it what they called love? Though it was a faraway and vague concept in Senri's mind, the word had stuck. Somewhere, he had heard it, and somehow, he now remembered it and wondered if that was what he was feeling. The description of the emotion escaping him, he had a fairly good guess that it was this feeling. Nothing else felt like this. It was like something he couldn't forget, even though he had forgotten so much else. He could never forget how he felt then.

The panic stole into Senri's heart again, and he looked around frantically, hoping that in the time he had decided he loved Rose, she had appeared. But it was to no avail, as Rose was nowhere nearby. Sighing in defeat, he returned to the cave, hoping that Husky, Cooro, or Nana would know where he went.

As he neared the entrance, Husky and Cooro left it, looking around in nearly as much confusion as Senri. "Hey, Senri!" Cooro chirped in his little perky voice. "Where'd Rose go?"

"…Don't know," said Senri. Husky sighed.

"You actually thought he would, Cooro?" he asked, addressing the fact that Senri did not usually remember important things, such as what had happened to any of his missing friends or where he was.

"She was gone when we woke up!" Cooro explained. "Was she gone when you woke up, too?"

Senri nodded, and Cooro looked at Husky. Husky stared back. "What was that dramatic glance supposed to mean?" he asked, and Cooro sighed.

"I don't know, it's just that Rose has gone missing, and… yeah. She's gone," Cooro restated. Haya wandered out of the cave, rubbing her eyes to rid herself of sleepiness.

"What happened?" she mumbled, still not fully awake. Nana followed her out, bobbing up and down nervously behind the others. They all looked to Senri for explanation, only to find that he was looking at a set of footprints in the mud from the rain. They were scuffed and uneven, and it appeared obvious that there were numerous struggles along the path. Noticing the direction of Senri's gaze, the others assumed that the marks were Rose's footprints. They didn't know to whom the other set belonged, but whatever the person's identity, the situation did not look good.

"Do you think she was… captured?" Haya suggested. No one answered her, not even Cooro who was typically prone to answering any question that passed him. Cooro was looking at the footprints along with Senri.

"So… do those things mean anything?" Cooro asked. Husky had left his staff in the cave, but if he had brought it, Cooro would have found the weapon connecting with his head again.

"Of course they mean something, you IDIOT!" Husky shouted, and Cooro looked at him, his eyes wide and sad.

"Husky, that was mean," he whined.

"Cooro, we don't have time to worry about that!" Nana protested. "Rose has been captured, and we have to do something about it, because she's in danger!" The instant Senri heard the words 'Rose' and 'danger' in the same sentence, he looked far angrier. Nana tapped his arm to calm him down, but he didn't. His anger soon became determination to save the one he loved. He began to follow the footprints, one of his arms becoming a bear's as he walked.

Bright green eyes fluttered open once more, and Rose found herself tied to a chair in the middle of a dingy, dirty, cobweb-covered room. After being knocked unconscious for two times, her head was throbbing. She barely remembered what had happened to her, only that she had opened her eyes to a scary-looking man staring at her.

The same man walked into the room again, running his fingers through his mess of tangled hair once more. He grinned at her, and she shied away at the sight of rotten, yellow teeth.

"What are you doing with me?" she demanded. He stroked her chin with one finger, and she shuddered, believing he had left a streak of dirt along with the uncomfortable feeling sinking into her.

"Why, my little flower, you're _bait_," he said in an oily voice that made her want to scream again. She kept her calm demeanor, and continued.

"Bait for what?" she asked smoothly.

"Bait to trap a bear," he laughed.

The sun set once more on the two people in the shack. The man sunk against the wall in a hard sleep, but Rose was finding it fairly hard to sleep in a place that was so revolting.

"_Please don't come, Senri," _she thought, _"Please! It's a trap!"_

**Nana: Aww, I think Senri and Rose are so cute!**

**Asuka: …**

**Husky: I think she believes otherwise. *cough* fangirl *cough***

**Asuka: I'm going to steal your staff, Fish Boy, and I'm going to hit you with it.**

**Husky: Oh, I'm so scared.**

**Asuka: Uh… be scared… I think…**

**Senri: Rose…**

**Asuka: You know your main comments in this thing are either 'rose' or '…'**

**Nana: Well, what do you expect!?**


End file.
